Children not old enough to use conventional, adult size chairs commonly are relegated to high chairs, booster chairs or the like. While the utmost safety for the child is assured when the parent is constantly watchful and vigilant, the exigencies of parenting frequently require a parent's attention to be diverted for one of a multitude of reasons.
While young children are not necessarily obstreperous, they are however, quite animated and restless as well as unsteady as they test and build up their strength with respect to the available surroundings.
When a child is confined in a high chair, the most frequent way to avoid the restraint of having a table placed in front of the child is for the child to slide underneath the table and attain freedom on the ground. Some high chairs are at an elevated distance above the ground, but this sliding to escape is seldom dangerous unless the child does not land stably, feet first. This is unwanted by the parent because the child may hit his/her face on the tray as they slide under it or fall upon landing.
In addition, children of tender years are likely to rock in the chair imparting unwanted motion to the chair. If the child is effectively restrained into the chair, the rocking motion can be imparted directly to the chair providing an unwanted result if the chair should translate or become unstable.
The following patents reflect the state of the art of which applicant is aware and is intended primarily to discharge applicant's acknowledged duty to disclose relevant prior art.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,237,301--Cooney PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 2,784,775--Madsen PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 928,305--Carrington PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 1,376,625--Johnston PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,650,246--Henriksson PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 3,572,830--Storer
The patent to Cooney teaches the use of a chair attachment wherein a telescoping member extends between a seat surface upon which the infant or child resides and the telescoping member is fixed to a bottom surface of a tray common to most high chairs. It should be clear that this attachment is fixed so that it depends from the chair tray.
The patent to Madsen teaches the use of a restraining post attachment for high chairs in which the post 30 is attached to the chair by means of a "U" shaped bracket having screws 26 fastened to a bottom surface thereof to the secure the post for subsequent use. Thus, the restraining post does not and can not move relative to its support surface. In addition, the screws 26 which clamp to the bottom surface of the chair are readily exposed, providing a hazard.
The patent to Carrington teaches the use of a chair strap for holding infants, in which the strap girds the waist area of the baby and has a front strap portion which extends between the legs of the baby and attaches on to the chair. By having the restraint directly connected between the baby and the chair, baby motion will be imparted directly to the chair.
Similarly, the patent to Johnson teaches the use of a safety device for high chairs in which the appliance actually tethers the baby to the chair and therefore motion by the infant is imparted to the chair.
The patent to Hendrickson teaches the use of a baby chair in which the chair is formed as a bucket having a bar 36 circumscribing the front of the baby and a downwardly extending piece 39 which is intended to allow the baby's legs to straddle either side of the piece 39. This device is an integral unit effective only when all components comprising the invention are present.
The patent to Storer teaches the use of an all-purpose seat for children in which a tubular frame surrounds the child and a seat portion includes an upwardly extending horn so that the child is securely restrained. This integral unit does not lend itself to retrofit on pre-existing chairs that are already specialized for the purpose of serving a parent's need for a high chair.